Total synthesis of oxazole- and cyclopropane-containing epothilone A analogues by the olefin metathesis approach

For structure-activity relationship studies, two series of epothilone A (1) analogues have been designed and synthesized, one containing an oxazole moiety instead of the thiazole heterocycle and the other containing a spirocyclopropane moiety in place of the gem-dimethyl group at position C-4 (4,4-ethano-epothilones). The olefin metathesis strategy in solution was utilized for the chemical synthesis of these compounds starting with key building blocks 7-9 for the oxazole series (compounds 2, 14-18, 21-26) and building blocks 8, 30, and 31 for the 4,4-ethano series (compounds 3, 39-43, 46-51), The convergent strategy towards the designed epothilone A series involved a) an aldol condensation reaction, b) an esterification reaction, c) an olefin metathesis reaction catalyzed by [RuCl2(=CHPh)(PCy3)(2)], and d) epoxidation of the macrocycle double bond.